


Mule

by ThatMasterOnline



Category: Far Cry 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 15:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14834495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMasterOnline/pseuds/ThatMasterOnline
Summary: When it comes to admitting that he doesn't know something, Ajay's stubborn enough to put a mule to shame, and that's...a problem.





	Mule

Ajay was frustrated beyond belief. Everyone in Banapur was happy and well-fed. How did they do it?! Ajay would have easily said they hunted for food, but Sabal had strictly forbidden him from even thinking about eating the local meat. They were diseased, and Ajay would get sick, Sabal said. How did everyone eat? There were no fruit or vegetable trees, or edible plants of any kind, there were no grocery stores...They didn’t hunt their food, they didn’t grow their food, and they didn’t buy their food. Did nobody eat?

Ajay wanted to ask somebody where to find food, but at the same time he didn't. Everybody around here was well fed. If food had been particularly difficult to procure, somebody would have mentioned it to the American who obviously did not know the local customs. They must not have thought that Ajay would have any difficulty keeping himself fed. That meant that Ajay would figure it out for himself. Besides, he was twenty-six, dammit, he should know how to fend for himself.

Except he didn’t, and as the hunger pains started to eat at him he started helping out less and less, sticking around Banapur. This should be easy. Everyone around here, even the poorest people, were well-fed. They had to be getting food from SOMEWHERE, and Ajay was determined to find out where. 

At some point he got so hungry he stopped feeling hungry, which left him in a curious hungry/not hungry/sick state. He needed food, but there was none to be found.

“Alright, brother? You’re looking a little pale.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just...holy shit, you know?” He wasn’t going to ask a stupid question. Sabal looked up to him, almost, because he was the son of this Mohan guy; he wasn’t about to spoil it by letting Sabal know he was an idiot who couldn’t find anything to eat.

Eventually, he started feeling weak and shaky. He drank water to try and trick his stomach into thinking it was full, but that didn’t work for long. A couple days later It had gotten so bad that he sat down at a bench to try and rest. Hopefully the shakes would pass after a while, just like the hunger pains. Maybe he could sleep it off. He laid down on the bench, something he had seen others do, and tried to ignore the weakness he felt throughout his body. Before he realized it, he’d succumbed to the weakness, his body relaxing on the bench.

***

“You’re working hard, brother,” Sabal said with a chuckle, finding Ajay asleep in the middle of the day. It wasn’t uncommon, of course, but he hadn’t taken Ajay for the type to take siestas. Well, he wasn’t about to disturb Ajay in the middle of a nap, and it was plenty warm out, so he let Ajay be.

It was when he came back six hours later and found Ajay hadn’t so much as moved that he started to worry.

“Ajay? There are plenty of beds for you to sleep in. Besides, it’s getting cold out.” He knelt down when he received no response.

“Ajay? ...Ajay? Wake up, Ajay. Ajay.” He didn't move, and Sabal put a hand on his neck, checking his pulse. It was weak, and now that he was looking closely he could see that Ajay looked sickly and pale.

“Ajay. Ajay! I need help over here, somebody get me some water!” When it was brought to him, he dipped his fingers in it and tapped gently at Ajay’s face, trying to wake him. He barely received a response, so he cupped a handful of water and splashed Ajay with it. 

“Huh?” Sabal sighed with relief.

“Thank Kyra. Where are you injured, Ajay?”

“Huh? Not injured…”

“You slept for six hours and did not so much as move when I called you, and you look absolutely terrible. Something’s wrong, now what is it?”

“It’s nothing,” Ajay protested, trying to get up, but Sabal forced him back down.

“You are not moving from this spot until I get you some help, Ajay,” he said, with a kind of firm gentleness. Still Ajay kept his mouth shut. Now that he was being directly confronted, “I didn’t know where to get food and I was too ashamed to ask so I starved until I passed out from hunger” sounded a hell of a lot more stupid than “Where do I get food?” would have. Sabal wasn’t terribly happy about his silence.

“Ajay?” Ajay shook his head.

“It’s stupid.” Sabal gently shooed the small crowd away, leaning in close.

“You don’t have to say it out loud, just whisper it in my ear.” Normally he wouldn’t entertain this sort of “It’s stupid” nonsense, but Ajay had passed out and was refusing to divulge the reason why. Ajay’s health took priority over his personal opinions on manhood. And it was a good thing he did, too.

“...I’m hungry.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“...Before I got on the bus to Kyrat.” Three days ago. Three. Days. Ago.

“Can you stand?”

“I dunno…”

“Here, I’ll help you. Lean on me, Ajay, let’s get you to a safe house.” Ajay nodded gratefully, holding on to Sabal and feeling like he was going to pass out as he was led to a safehouse and gently placed down on the bed.

“I’ll be right back, alright? Please don’t pass out on me again.” Ajay nodded, and Sabal left, coming back with an entire backpack which he opened to reveal homemade jerky and curry in tupperware containers. The sight of all that food was a godsend, and Ajay scarfed it down as fast as Sabal was giving it to him...which wasn't very fast.

“You’ve been starving for days, Ajay, you need to eat slowly or you’ll make yourself sick.” By the time he had finally filled himself, Sabal was leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

“Now, Ajay...What happened? Did you forget to eat?” Sabal saw Ajay clamming up - likely because he was embarrassed again - and he leaned forward to put a hand over his.

“Ajay, I give you my word that nothing you say will leave this room. I’ll take it with me to my grave.” Ajay trusted him with admitting he had passed out from hunger, and Sabal could only hope he would trust him with the reason why.

“...I...I was...too ashamed…” Of all the things he’d expected to hear from Ajay’s mouth…

“Too ashamed to what, brother? Eat?”

“To...ask…”

“Ask?”

“I saw...everyone was eating just fine, but...I didn’t see any trees, you told me not to hunt...there weren’t any stores...I didn’t know how everyone was eating, but...nobody had said anything, so I figured it should be easy to get food, but...it wasn’t, and...I didn’t want to ask, because if nobody had brought it up that meant they didn’t think they had to…” Sabal nodded.

“I see. I’m partially to blame for this. When I told you not to hunt, I meant specifically the wild animals. You’ll have noticed the pig pens on the outskirts of the village?” Ajay nodded.

“Those are for everyone. They are raised with a healthy diet, and when they have had several sets of offspring and cannot have more they are given a tag, to let villagers know they are ready to be killed for food. At that point, anyone who wants a pig can take one. The meat is then cooked, or used for jerky...We get milk from pigs, which we use for curry...Not to mention anything you raid from royal army outposts is yours, and their diet includes a lot of canned food. It’s a limited diet, but it keeps us fed.”

“Oh. I thought the pigs belonged to someone.” Sabal smiled.

“My mistake. When one lives as one does for song long, it can be easy to forget that sharing is not normally how other cultures do things. A simple oversight on my part...albeit a very costly one. I’m sorry, Ajay, truly, but...you could have asked me, brother.”

“Twenty-six years old and still asking where food comes from? Yeah, right.”

“You’re right, brother, starving yourself to collapse was clearly the better option.” He was, admittedly, a little annoyed. He could understand being ashamed to ask, but starving yourself to that extent because you were afraid to ask a question? It was beyond ridiculous.

“Already said I felt stupid,” Ajay mumbled, and Sabal nodded.

“Good. Would you have felt more or less stupid had you asked where to get food in the first place?”

“...Maybe less.”

“Good, then the next time you have a problem you can ask me, alright? As a matter of fact, if there’s ANYTHING else you need, this is your opportunity to speak up.”

“...” Ajay had that “clamming up” look in his eyes again.

“Ajay…” He said warningly.

“How do I...Where do I get...toilet paper?” Sabal sighed.

“I’m afraid leaves are all we have, brother. Be careful not to use any leaves that have three prongs, it may be poison ivy. Anything else?”

“Uhh...Poison ivy cure, I guess…Just in case…”

**Author's Note:**

> This was not originally a crackfic but things just happen. The whole premise is kind of silly anyways, I guess, so there you go.


End file.
